Guilty Until Proven Insane

Guilty Until Proven Insane is the fourth studio album released by Skyhooks on March 13, 1978.[1] It was the first album to feature Bob Spencer, who replaced guitarist Red Symons in early 1977. Spencer had earlier played in Sydney rock band Finch and would later become a member of The Angels.

Guilty Until Proven Insane
Studio album by Skyhooks
Released	March 13, 1978
Recorded	Armstrong Studios, Melbourne and Trafalgar Studios, Sydney
Genre	Glam rock
Length	38:38
Label	Mushroom
Producer	Eddie Leonetti
Skyhooks chronology
The Skyhooks Tapes (1977) Guilty Until Proven Insane (1978) Live! Be in It (1978)
Singles from Guilty Until Proven Insane
"Women in Uniform" Released: February 1978 "Meglomania" Released: May 1978

Details

The album's name comes from a line in "Twisted Innocence", which states 'if I'm guilty until proven insane...' The first 5000 copies were on red vinyl. it is the first album to include an uncensored version of "Why Dontcha All Get Fucked" recorded in a studio, as opposed to live and censored versions. It is also the last album vocalist Graeme "Shirley" Strachan made with Skyhooks before the recording sessions which would be released as The Lost Album.

In April 1979, 350 copies of the album were seized by Victorian vice squad detectives. Senior Constable John Challis said, "The record in question was by the Skyhooks called "Guilty Until Proven Insane" and one song was suspected of being obscene."[2]

Two singles were released from the album. "Women in Uniform" was a Top 10 hit nationwide, while "Megalomania" peaked at number 93. The sixth track in the album, "Hotel Hell", was used on the FOX reality series Hotel Hell starring Gordon Ramsay.

Reception

Donald Robertson, writing in Roadrunner, expressed disappointment with the album: "I'm afraid to say it's a really patchy affair. Apart from the cracking "Women in Uniform" the album lacks the sparkle and wit of the stage act and the previous albums. I only hope Greg Macainsh goes back to writing songs about Australia. No one does it better."[3]

Rip It Up magazine's Jeremy Templer wrote that: "Like the Rolling Stones, Skyhooks still feel something of an obligation to be outrageous but they remain as strikingly original as when they first began."[4]

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Women in Uniform"	Greg Macainsh	4:21
2.	"Life in the Modern World"	Macainsh	3:23
3.	"Trouble With the Computer"	Macainsh	4:53
4.	"BBBBBBBBBBBBBoogie"	Imants "Freddie" Strauks	3:00
5.	"Twisted Innocence"	Macainsh	3:46

Side B

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hotel Hell"	Macainsh	4:46
2.	"Point in the Distance"	Macainsh	6:23
3.	"Meglomania"	Macainsh	4:07
4.	"Why Dontcha All Get Fucked"	Macainsh	3:59

Charts

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[5]	7

Personnel

• Graeme "Shirley" Strachan - Lead Vocals
• Bob Spencer - Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Bob "Bongo" Starkie - Guitar
• Greg Macainsh - bass guitar, narration
• Imants "Freddy" Strauks - Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals

Additional personnel

• Joe Camilleri (Courtesy OZ Records), Wilbur Wilde - saxophones on "Hotel Hell"
• Tony Ansell - piano on '"Why Dontcha All Get Fucked"; organ on "Meglomania"
• Eddie "Spag" Leonetti - organ on "Twisted Innocence"; string machine on "Point in the Distance"

External links

• A 1978 ABCTV special of the making of 'Guilty Until Proven Insane'

References

1. "Skyhooks - Guilty Until Proven Insane (1978) + Bonus Tracks". Rock On Vinyl. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
2. "Skyhooks' records seized". The Canberra Times.
3. Donald Robertson (May 1978). "Albums". Roadrunner. pp. 32–33.
4. Jeremy Templer (1 August 1978). "Ocker Rockers". Rip It Up. No. 14.
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.